In the manufacture of containers, it is common practise to provide a snap on lid with a central flattened area. A label may be printed directly on the flattened area or a label may be applied and glued in place. When using such containers with certain frozen food products particularly ice cream, it is desirable that the lids shall not be preprinted, but shall be labelled prior to or after the container has been filled. Gluing materials used for labels may be hot melt type materials, heat activated or pressure sensitive in order to obtain a fast bond of the label. There are disadvantages when using adhesives. Glued-on labels can distort due to uneven thermal shrinkage between the lid and label, from the time the label is applied and glued to the time the product has frozen.
Accordingly, it is becoming the practice to provide labels for such products which are not glued or bonded in place, but are held in place by some portion of the lid itself. This requires a lid which is formed with a specially adapted flexible label retention lip. The label is usually printed on card stock, and must be snap fitted inside this lip. The lip terminates in a thin flexible edge, which extends inwardly and encloses the edge portion of the label. This practice overcomes the problem created by hot melt, heat activated or pressure sensitive adhesives for label retention. However, when such filled containers are stacked for shipping, or when they may be stacked on shelves in a store, the containers will usually be stacked one on top of the other. In some cases the lower end of the container will fit within the label retaining lip. In other cases the container has perpendicular sides, and the base of one container rests on the lid of the next.
In other cases, it is the practice to stack filled containers, for shipping purposes, alternately the right way up and upside down. Since the containers are sometimes tapered, this saves space for shipping, and also provides a more secure package on a pallet or the like.
In these cases, where alternate containers are stacked upside down, the weight of the container and the product it contains is carried on the label retention lip. This tends to damage the label retention lip and impairs the appearance and appeal of the product. It may also lead to the label becoming dislodged.
For all of these reasons, it is desirable to provide a lid having a label retention lip which is recessed within the lid and is protected against damage during storage or shipping.